This invention relates to shoeing of hoofed animals, and, more particularly, to an appliance which facilitates shoeing by a farrier, extends the life of the shoeing, and facilitates repair of a cracked hoof.
Farriers apply shoes to a variety of animals on a regular basis. These include draught, show and pleasure horses, ponies and mules. These shoes last an average of four to six weeks, and then the animal must be re-shod. The reason for the relatively short life of a shoeing is that the nails which secure the shoe to the animal are clinched against the relatively soft side of the animal""s hoof wall, and can pull through or become loose, thus loosening the shoe.
Loosening of the shoeing nails is caused by lateral or wedging forces imposed on the shod hoof by walking on uneven ground and by such activities as cutting, reining, roping, barrel racing, jumping and landing after a jump. All of these actions cause the shoeing nails to work lose and eventually lead to a thrown shoe. This causes the frequent re-shoeing that is all too common and expensive.
Thus, there is a need for a shoeing technique that increases the life of a shoeing.
Besides frequent re-shoeing, another problem confronting animal owners and farriers is the frequent incidence of cracked or split hooves. These must be repaired immediately or the hoof can become infected and the animal can become lamexe2x80x94neither of which is desirable. Many treatments for split hooves have been tried over the years. One is to bind the hoof with a cemented wrap. Another is to drive pegs, studs or nails into the hoof flanking the crack and wire or otherwise cinch the hoof parts together to close the crack so that it can heal. None of these techniques has proven to be an entirely successful hoof crack treatment.
Thus, there is a need for an improved technique for repairing cracked hooves.
Accordingly, it is one object of this invention to provide a shoeing technique that increases the life of a shoeing.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved technique for repairing cracked hooves.
In one aspect, this invention features a method of shoeing animals that comprises the steps of:
providing a hoof appliance that is a flexible flat plate having a center axis and a pair of wings extending therefrom, said wings including a plurality of closely-spaced apertures,
wrapping the plate about a hoof with the axis generally at the hoof front,
positioning a shoe on the hoof,
inserting nails through spaced portions of the shoe, through the hoof and out through said apertures in both wings, and
clinching the nail ends onto the wings.
In another aspect, this invention features a method of repairing a cracked hoof of an animal that comprises the steps of:
providing a hoof appliance that is a flexible flat plate having a center axis and a pair of wings extending therefrom, said wings including a plurality of closely-spaced apertures,
wrapping the plate about a hoof so that the appliance spans the crack with a wing on either side thereof,
positioning a shoe on the hoof,
anchoring the appliance in place by inserting nails through spaced portions of the shoe, through the hoof and out through said apertures in both wings, and
clinching the nail ends onto the wings, thereby preventing the hoof from spreading apart and progression of the crack during movement of the animal.
In a further aspect, this invention comprises a hoof appliance for facilitating animal shoeing, comprising a flexible flat plate having a center axis and a pair of wings extending therefrom, said wings including a plurality of closely-spaced apertures for receiving shoeing nail ends, said plate being deformable to conform to the outside of a hoof.
Preferably the wings are angled upwardly relative to a line perpendicular to center axis at a predetermined angle such that the lower edge of the wings conforms generally to the edge of the hoof. The angle can vary from approximately 25xc2x0 to 40xc2x0, depending on which type of animal, and whether the front or hind hooves are being shod.
These and other objects and features of this invention will become more readily apparent upon reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: